A much anticipated U.S. intelligence report on the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic has failed to reach any firm conclusion on whether the …
A much anticipated U.S. intelligence report on the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic has failed to reach any firm conclusion on whether the coronavirus first found its way into humans through contact with an infected animal or that the virus somehow escaped from a lab. Both hypotheses remain plausible, according to an unclassified summary of the report’s key takeaways that was released on Friday by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The intelligence community “remains divided on the most likely origin of COVID-19. All agencies assess that two hypotheses are plausible: natural exposure to an infected animal and a laboratory-associated incident,” the brief summary states. Just over three months ago, President Biden ordered intelligence agencies to undertake a detailed, systematic review of any information that had been collected and could shed light on what exactly sparked the global pandemic. “The world deserves answers, and I will not rest until we get them,” Biden said on Friday, commenting on the report. “We all must better understand how COVID-19 came to be in order to prevent further pandemics.” Biden said his administration will continue to push to learn more about the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic and criticized China for preventing international investigators from accessing what he called “critical information” about the coronavirus since the beginning of the pandemic.
